I AM a career woman working in a renowned private company. I will soon get married, but the problem is that I and my spouse are of different religions. I want to ask what problems that may appear on having interfaith marriage?Thank you B2B.

Adinda in Jakarta(name and address are kept by editors)

To answer this, it is better to know about legal requirements of marriage stipulated in Law No 1 Year 1974 on Marriage (UUP). Legal requirements of a marriage based on Article 2 of UUP are:

1. Providing that the marriage is organized based on religious procedure. In Article 2 Chapter 1, it is stated that there is no marriage organized beyond one’s religion and faith.

2. The marriage is registered based on the prevailing law. Regulation on marriage registration is further stipulated in Governmental Regulation No 9 Year 1975 on the Implementation of Law No 1 Year 1974 (PP No. 9/1975). For Islamic marriage, it will be administered by recording office as stipulated in Law No 32 Year 1954 on Documentation of Marriage, Divorce, and Reconciliation, namely Religious Affairs Office. As for other religions, it will be administered by Civil Registration Office (Article 2 Law No 9/1975).

Based on the regulation of a legal marriage stipulated in Law No 1 Year 1974, problems that may appear out of interfaith marriage are:

1. Legality of MarriageIn regard to the legality of a marriage organized based on one’s religion and faith stipulated in Article 2 Chapter 1 UUP, this means that the Regulation on Marriage allows it to be organized based on one’s religion. However, the problem is whether religions of each party allow interfaith marriage, for example, according to Islamic rules, women are prohibited to marry non-Muslim men [Al Baqarah (2):221]. In addition, Christian also prohibits interfaith marriage (I Corinthians 6: 14-18).2. Marriage RegistrationIf interfaith marriage is arranged between a Muslim and a Christian, the problem is on marriage registration, whether it should be registered in Religious Affairs Office or Civil Registration Office due to differences in regulation. If it is to be registered in Civil Registration Office, the marriage will be examined whether it has fulfilled the requirements stipulated in Article 2 of UUP on legality of marriage. If the office reveals that the marriage is prohibited by the law, it may reject to register the marriage (Article 21 Chapter 1 UUP).

3. Status of ChildIf the marriage is unregistered, it will affect the legal status of children born from the marriage. Based on Article 42 UUP, a legitimate child is a child born from legal marriage. If the marriage is not registered, then based on the law, the child is illegitimate and only has civil relationship with the mother or the maternal family (Article 2 Chapter (2) jo Article 43 Chapter (1) UUP).

4. Marriage Organized AbroadIf the interfaith marriage is organized abroad, the couple must register their marriage license to Marriage Registration Office in their residency area one year after they return to Indonesia (Article 56 Chapter (2) UUP. The problems will be similar to those explained in point 2. Despite being illegal based on Indonesian law, Civil Registration Office may accept the marriage registration. The registration is not to determine the legality of marriage, but it is more of an administrative issue (read on related articles here and here)

Related laws on marriage1. Law No. 1 Year 1974 on marriage2. Law No. 32 Year 1954 on Documentation of Marriage, Divorce, and Reconciliation3. Governmental Regulation No. 9 Year 1975 on Implementation of Law No. 1 Year 1974

Those are information from us. Hopefully it will be beneficial for you.

Tito Hananta Kusuma, SH.MM.CPHR (THK Law Office)

Disclaimer: The Legal Consultation are intended to provide knowledge related to legal matters according to law in Indonesia. These tips are not intended as authentication process before law enforcer.